Steve McBoyle on the Small-Cap Revival in Barron’s —Royce
article 03-10-2026

Steve McBoyle on the Small-Cap Revival in Barron’s

Steven McBoyle talks about small-cap leadership and highlights two key holdings with Barron’s reporter Ian Salisbury.

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In the recent Barron’s article penned by Ian Salisbury, “The Small-Cap Stock Revival May Just Be Starting. 12 Ideas to Play It,” Portfolio Manager Steven McBoyle talked about how the last few years have been “been challenging for active small-cap managers such as ourselves. But it’s important to note that investors should not forget the cycles are long and they’re on both sides.”

Ian wrote that “Small-caps tend to be less widely followed on Wall Street, creating more opportunities to find overlooked stocks. Active managers have a mixed record, but some have consistently found ways to beat the indexes.

To help navigate the sector, we worked with Envestnet and Mercer—consulting firms that vet funds for institutional investors—to help identify strong performers. We then spoke to managers about their top picks.”

The Small-Cap Stock Revival May Just Be Starting. 12 Ideas to Play It. - Barron's (registration required)

One of several investment professionals quoted in the piece, Steven also said that in Royce Premier Fund, he seeks high-quality companies with strong balance sheets and highly defensible businesses before providing the investment thesis for two key holdings.

Important Disclosure Information

Average Annual Total Returns as of 12/31/2025 (%)

  QTD1 1YR 3YR 5YR 10YR SINCE
INCEPT.
DATE ANNUAL
OPERATING EXPENSES
NET               GROSS
Premier 1.35 5.63 10.05 5.56 10.34 10.83 12/31/91  1.19  1.19
Russell 2000
2.19 12.81 13.73 6.09 9.62 9.34 N/A  N/A  N/A
1 Not annualized.

Average Annual Total Returns as of 2/28/2026 (%)

  QTD1 1YR 3YR 5YR 10YR SINCE
INCEPT.
DATE ANNUAL
OPERATING EXPENSES
NET               GROSS
Premier 13.30 19.68 11.39 6.43 12.17 11.18 12/31/91  1.19  1.19
Russell 2000
6.20 23.34 13.14 5.05 11.30 9.49 N/A  N/A  N/A
1 Not annualized.

All performance information reflects past performance, is presented on a total return basis, reflects the reinvestment of distributions, and does not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on fund distributions or the redemption of fund shares. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate, so that shares may be worth more or less than their original cost when redeemed. Current month-end performance may be higher or lower than performance quoted and may be obtained at www.royceinvest.com. Operating expenses reflect the Fund's total annual operating expenses for the Investment Class as of the Fund's most current prospectus and include management fees and other expenses.

Mr. McBoyle’s thoughts and opinions concerning the stock market are solely his own and, of course, there can be no assurance with regard to future market movements. No assurance can be given that the past performance trends as outlined above will continue in the future.

The performance data and trends outlined in this presentation are presented for illustrative purposes only. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Historical market trends are not necessarily indicative of future market movements.

Frank Russell Company (“Russell”) is the source and owner of the trademarks, service marks and copyrights related to the Russell Indexes. Russell® is a trademark of Frank Russell Company. Neither Russell nor its licensors accept any liability for any errors or omissions in the Russell Indexes and / or Russell ratings or underlying data and no party may rely on any Russell Indexes and / or Russell ratings and / or underlying data contained in this communication. No further distribution of Russell Data is permitted without Russell’s express written consent. Russell does not promote, sponsor or endorse the content of this communication. The Russell 2000 is an unmanaged, capitalization-weighted index of domestic small-cap stocks. It measures the performance of the 2,000 smallest publicly traded U.S. companies in the Russell 3000 index. The Russell 2000 Value and Growth indexes consist of the respective value and growth stocks within the Russell 2000 as determined by Russell Investments. The performance of an index does not represent exactly any particular investment, as you cannot invest directly in an index.

This material is not authorized for distribution unless preceded or accompanied by a current prospectus. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing or sending money. The Fund invests primarily in small-cap stocks, which may involve considerably more risk than investing in larger-cap stocks. The Fund also generally invests a significant portion of its assets in a limited number of stocks, which may involve considerably more risk than a more broadly diversified portfolio because a decline in the value of any one of these stocks would cause the Fund's overall value to decline to a greater degree. (Please see "Primary Risks for Fund Investors" in the prospectus.) The Fund may invest up to 25% of its net assets (measured at the time of investment) in securities of companies headquartered in foreign countries, which may involve political, economic, currency, and other risks not encountered in U.S. investments. (Please see "Investing in Foreign Securities" in the prospectus.)

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